Model Gigi Hadid isn’t a fan of the squat exercise. “Squats are painful and you have to do so many for them to start working,” she said while at the launch of her Reebok’s Perfect Never campaign. The squat struggle is real, but Hadid recognizes the importance of doing the backside strengthening move, and she has a simple way of motivating herself to do them—and it’s an easy trick you can use when your motivation dips, too.

“Squats work all of the muscles in your leg and also focus on the glutes,” Rob Piela, Hadid’s trainer at Gotham Gym in NYC, tells SELF. “Squats are a compound movement, so your heart rate is elevated, you get a bit of cardio and it’s very efficient. You can do a squat anywhere, so it worked with Gigi’s busy schedule.”

The glutes are some of the biggest, strongest muscles in the body.
“A strong butt helps you perform everything, including walking and lifting, and it provides power in your workouts,” trainer Hannah Davis, founder of Body by Hannah in Cleveland, Tennessee previously told SELF. Working your leg and butt muscles also helps to support your core, improve your posture, and strengthen your bones.

But in order to see the benefits of squatting you actually have to, well, squat. And that’s something that Hadid wasn’t always excited about. To stay on track she created a sticky note reminder. “I put a sticky note in my kitchen that says 'squats,'” Hadid explains. “Every time I walked past the sticky note, I had to do 15 squats, and that was my way of doing it. Yeah I hate them, but I try to do them as much as I can. It’s a good trick because that reminds you and you have to have integrity with yourself. I have to do it for myself which is important.”

Whether you choose to do 45 squats all at once or 15 three times a day when you pass your fridge, Piela says it’s all beneficial. “You don’t need to murder yourself in a leg workout. You can take rests and do more later in the day.” If you have a busy schedule and don’t have time for an hour-long workout, it’s best to fit in any workout you can while you have time, even if that means short bursts throughout the day. “One squat is better than no squat and consistency is the most important thing,” says Piela. So if you don’t have time for a full workout, try setting your phone alarm three times a day as a reminder to do 15 curls while holding a water bottle, or post a sticky note somewhere in your house, like Hadid did, urging you to squat it out—it’s all about squeezing in activity wherever you can.

If building a stronger booty is on your to-do list, keep in mind that squats are just one part of the overall butt equation. You’ll need to do both functional and isolation exercises, meaning lunges, squats, as well as leg lifts or glute bridges, Michele Olson, Ph.D., professor of exercise physiology at Auburn University of Montgomery, Alabama previously told SELF. And focus on building a strong butt that’s right for you—not what you see on a model or on Instagram.